The Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) defined information literacy as the ability to identify when information is needed, and the ability to access, evaluate, use, and understand the legal and ethical implications surrounding the information (ACRL, 2000).
An information literate person has the ability to identify the information they need, and the ability to locate, evaluate, use, and communicate that information in an ethical and legal manner. In other words, individuals who are information literate know how to articulate the information they need, and they have the ability to utilize appropriate search tools to access the information. Further, they possess the appropriate critical thinking skills to appraise and evaluate the information they have found so they can use the information for their own purposes. Finally, an information literate person knows how to communicate and convey the information they have found by understanding the ethical and legal implications surrounding the information.
The ACRL, a division of the American Library Association, revised the “standards” into a “framework” in 2015. The updated definition of information literacy is "the set of integrated abilities encompassing the reflective discovery of information, the understanding of how information is produced and valued, and the use of information in creating new knowledge and participating ethically in communities of learning” (ACRL, 2015).
The Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education contains threshold concepts, which are more fluid and not as rigid as the standards, including:
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